Corrosion On Car Battery- Sign, Causes, And Fixing

As cars are becoming advanced, the technologies in them are also becoming better. One thing that is staying the same is the battery that is used to start the cars. With smarter cars, it is not needed to look after the car like it used to do in older times. This has given rise to one issue. The batteries of the cars are not looked after, and this makes the terminal of batteries corroded.

It affects the performance of the battery and in the worst case, a good battery becomes dead because of no care. Here we will discuss the signs, causes, and repairing the corrosion on the terminals of a car battery.

Is corrosion a sign of a bad battery

No, corrosion tells nothing about the battery, but it tells a lot about the charging system of the car. The main reason for corrosion on the terminals of the battery is a faulty charging system sometimes. In other cases, the reason might be a loose connection.

When you get corrosion on the terminals of your car battery, there are several problems that you may face if you do not take good care of the battery.

While most of the car batteries use acid to make power, the corrosion on the terminal can lead to many problems that are discussed below.

Slow start or not starting the battery

With corrosion on your battery, the connection between the terminals of the battery and the wires becomes weak in terms of efficiency. The gunk grows between the terminals and the wires. This restricts the efficient flow of power through the battery to the wires. In this condition of the battery, the car takes a long time to start. In the worst case, the car will not even crank.

This problem might make you go to a garage or a dealership and they will cost a lot for their services. But this is only a matter of minutes to clean the terminals at home.

Lights turn on but the car will not start.

If the lights of the car are on and the internal systems are also on, this is the sign of corrosion on the terminals of the battery.

Battery becomes dead after some time.

If the corrosion on the battery is not removed and the battery is kept in the condition in which it is. This might lead the battery towards being dead. In this case, repairing the battery will not provide you with a good quality battery and you will ultimately have to replace the battery.

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What causes corrosion on a car battery

It is a good thing to know the reason for any problem before you take care of the problem. Knowing what the main reason for a problem is to help you to get the problem solved quickly and you can also be prepared for similar situations in the future.

The corrosion on the terminals of the battery is due to the imbalanced chemical reaction inside the battery. The reason for this imbalance is mostly a faulty charging system. There are different types of corrosion on a car battery. All of these are discussed below.

Corrosion on the positive terminal.

If you see corrosion of the positive terminal of the car battery, this means that the battery is being overcharged. This is because when the battery is overcharged, the electrons accumulate on the positive side of the battery.

Due to this, hydrogen gas comes out of the body. As it comes into the atmosphere, it combines with the oxygen and a reaction takes place on the lead terminals of the battery.

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Corrosion on the negative terminal.

The corrosion on the negative terminals is the result of an undercharged battery. Other than undercharging, the whole reaction process is the same.

Corrosion on both the terminals.

If you see corrosion on both terminals of the battery, this can be due to several causes. Some of them are:

Lose connections of the battery wires.

Acid leaking from the terminals of the battery.

Lose battery caps.

In all these cases, it is good to get rid of corrosion as soon as possible.

How do you fix corrosion on a car battery

Now you know the cause of corrosion on battery terminals, here we will guide you to remove the corrosion by yourself with our step by step guide.

Protection is a must.

The car battery contains acid and when working with the car battery, it is good to have proper protection. Some things that you may need for this are:

Protective gloves.

Eye protection glasses.

Old apron to protect your clothes.

Disconnecting the cables.

The next step is to disconnect the cables from the battery. This is a very important thing while removing corrosion from the battery. One drawback of doing this is that you will lose the audio player presets.

Cleaning the terminals and wire connections.

When you have removed the wired from the battery, it is the time when you start the cleaning process of corrosion from your car battery. If you are comfortable working with the battery inside the car you can leave it there and start the process. Otherwise, you can remove the battery from the car as it will provide easy and efficient cleaning.

For cleaning the battery terminals and the wren connection points, you can use the solution of soap and water and a brush that is stiff enough to remove all the gunk from the terminals of the battery and with wire connection points.

Protecting the terminals against corrosion in the future.

After the corrosion is removed, you must make everything dry and then apply a layer of grease on the thermals before attaching the wires on them. The grease will prevent the gases from reacting with the battery terminals. It will reduce the chances of getting the corrosion again.

Finishing Things Up

Once you are done with everything it is good that you clean the battery area with a splash of water. This is because if the carrion is left on the body of your car, it might start eating the paint and it will end in causing a rusty area.

Conclusion.

This was all about the corrosion of the car battery. If you also have faced this problem, you can use our guide to get rid of corrosion from your battery. Make sure that you take the car to some professional to examine its charging mechanism. Another thing is that after some time, the grease will break down, so it is a good thing that you keep the battery terminals refreshed after some time.